The Same Kind of Different
by hurrae
Summary: Kory Anders is a new girl in Jump City High. With the help of her best friend Donna Troy, she meets the rest of the gang (Dick, Wally, Rachel,Gar and Vic). High school days are fun and new experiences abound, but something strange is going on here. Rachel's not the only who senses it. The 7 teenagers must find a way to restore their reality before it's too late. (ntt team&pairings)


**_Disclaimer:_** _The Teen Titans and any other DC Comics Characters are owned by Warner Brothers. Some lines, dialogue, and events are heavily inspired by Marv Wolfman's New Teen Titans run and Teen Titans animated (2003). I do not claim any right to these properties. _

_**Author's Note: **__This story starts as a high school fic, but it will eventually evolve into something more. Many of the situations and lines used are from Marv Wolfman's NTT and the TTA (2003) show. The characters are a blend of these two sources, so there will be callbacks to their history. Characters are not carbon copies of their counterparts in the TTA (2003) show. _

_**Pairings:**__ Dick Grayson/Koriand'r, Victor Stone/Sarah Simms, Garfield Logan/Rachel Roth, Donna Troy/Roy Harper_

_Also, I'm Asian and I have no idea how the education system in the US works, so please pm me or review if I make any mistakes. _

* * *

**Chapter 1: A new friend**

_"But the eyes are blind. One must look with the heart..." - The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry_

* * *

The Titans. A team of teenage heroes who fight for justice… and each other.

They were the best there is: **Robin**, _the teen wonder_; **Kid Flash**, _super-speedster_; **Cyborg**, _half man/half robot_;** Starfire**, _alien powerhouse_; **Raven**, _mistress of magic_; **Beast Boy**, _shapeshifter supreme_ and **Wonder Girl**, _the amazing amazon_!

Together, they were an unbeatable force, but one foe stood in their way and changed their world forever.

* * *

Rays of light spilled in the grand purple bedroom, illuminating the faces of two young teenagers chatting idly. Outside, the birds chirped and the trees swayed to the calm breeze passing by, busy with their own lives. It was one regular sunny morning.

"Oooh, Donna! I am most excited to be part of your school!" Kory exclaimed as she sat on the edge of her bed, facing her best friend, Donna Troy.

"I will finally meet the friends that you love talking about!" she said giddily. "We can talk between classes and eat together during lunch —"

"Kory, be carefu—" Donna starts in alarm as she notices her friend teetering off the edge of the bed from her excitement.

"— And perhaps we will have the same classes as well and —" Kory rambled on, settling herself better on the bed. Donna sighed in relief and exasperation for her best friend.

Kory had been going on and on like this ever since the last week of summer when she was fully enrolled into Jump City high school. Donna understood though. Kory had been wishing for the two to be in the same school ever since she got to the United States. _Must be a dream come true for her_, Donna thought inwardly as Kory continued on with her chatter.

"I know it will all be so much fun!" Kory ended with a cheerful yelp.

"Don't forget, you'll finally meet your celeb crush…" Donna coyly smirked, waiting for Kory to guess. "Hmmm.." Kory mulled over who Donna could be talking about. _I'm certain I've talked about every positive aspect of going to her school already. What could I have— _Kory gasped as it came to her.

"Dick Grayson!" she shouted as a wide smile filled her face. "And one of my best friends," Donna finished.

Kory's smile fell as quickly as it came. "DONNA! You must help me pick out the perfect outfit for tomorrow!" she said frantically. "I must 'dress to impress' for him."

Donna thought her friend's eyes were turning into _literal hearts_.

"Just thinking about him makes my heart flutter and ooooh —" Kory slowly leaned back, imagining herself in the arms of _THE_ Dick Grayson. Total heartthrob and a nice guy too. Or, so she heard.

When Kory still lived in New Tamaran and Donna was away, she would always ask about the boy she had seen perform that one time in the circus when she was little. It was his first time performing on the trapeze with his parents, and Kory thought he looked like a **rflesky'l**, one of the most beautiful birds native to New Tamaran. As princess of the state and second-in-line to the throne, Kory had had many suitors and even entertained one or two of them. But that circus boy had never left her mind.

A few years later, news came out that the famous Bruce Wayne had adopted a child. Finally, Kory had learned his name. The happiness from that revelation didn't last long as soon as she learned _why _he'd been adopted.

Donna had been fortunate enough to meet the young Grayson since her sister and his adoptive father were friends. The two instantly clicked, and Donna had become like a sister to Dick.

Kory had found out about Donna's new friendship and from then on, Donna regaled Kory with her, Wally and Dick's adventures, making Kory long to join them and to see the young circus boy all grown up with her own eyes.

"I could just fall for him —" Kory continued leaning back all the way, arms all stretched out. Donna laughed heartily at her silly display until Kory started teetering dangerously close to the edge of the bed once more. "KORY!-" Donna shouted just as Kory _crashes _onto the floor.

* * *

The red double doors to the building taunted Kory from the passenger seat of Donna's red Maserati Granturismo convertible. Students of all shapes, sizes, and races filed into the building to start the day.

Kory anxiously stared at the number of people she'd be spending the year with. "Xha'l Donna, I feel as though I am not ready for this."

"Kory, you'll be fine. Trust me." Donna smiled reassuringly as she turned off the ignition. Biting her lip nervously, Kory turned to the raven-haired beauty, "You are certain I look… the nice?"

Donna eyed her best friend up and down, inspecting the outfit they chose together the other night. Kory was wearing a purple white-spotted sundress with a denim jacket on top, along with white converse high-top sneakers. "Better than nice. Dick would be head over heels for you!"

"Now c'mon, I'll go with you to the secretary to get your schedule and… we'll figure it out from there. Hopefully, we'll have the same homeroom." Donna picked up her backpack from the backseat and proceeded to get out of her car while Kory followed suit.

Kory watched as Donna inspected the parking area for a few seconds. She noticed her gazing at what seemed to be… a blue convertible? "Hmm… Looks like Dick's already here. And with his blue Lamborghini? That's not something he usually does unless—" Donna's face immediately turned sour. "Unless _Wally_ convinced him to flex since it's the first day back," she sighed, shaking her head at her friends' antics.

Kory brightened at the mention of another familiar name, "This… _Wally_? I cannot wait to meet him. He sounds quite entertaining!"

"You have **no** idea," Donna grinned back. _It's gonna be one hell of a day_, she thinks as she led Kory into the building.

* * *

Kory thanked the secretary kindly and walked out of the office, schedule in hand with Donna hovering over the thing like a hawk.

"What'd you get?" Donna asked hurriedly, knowing the bell would ring anytime now.

Kory peered at the tiny piece of paper like it could tell her fate, which in a way, it kind of did. "Room 304." she looked to the girl next to her, hoping, _praying _to Xha'l that hers would be the same.

Alas, the fates were not too kind today. "Kory I'm… 316, and it's not really in the same area. Sorry." Donna looked to her sympathetically, peering closer at the schedule. "But we do have the same Gym class with Principal Wilson and AP Physics with Mr. Blood—"

_BRIIIINGGGGG!_

Donna smiled sheepishly one last time before holding Kory's shoulders firmly, "You can do this, okay? You're Kory Anders. You've got this." Donna gave her a brief but strong hug before disappearing down the hall.

Kory looked disappointedly back at her schedule. _At least my locker is right next to hers, _the redhead thought, trying to shed some light on the situation. _I must make with the haste if I do not want to be late to my first class._

* * *

_Red skies. A city of stone._

_A doomed feeling deep in her gut. No normal 7-year-old should feel this way. But she was never considered normal since birth._

_She looked on. They might just defeat him! Six blurry figures fought the red Goliath valiantly, _

_but one…_

_by one…_

_by one…_

_the Titans fell._

_Defeated. _

_They didn't stand a chance against the monster, her prophecy, but still... she had hoped. And that last shred of hope disappeared as a boy in bright red and green fell, just like the others._

_All of them gone._

_Her fault... her friends._

_She was alone._

"Robin!"

Rachel abruptly woke up from her dream, eyes bloodshot and sweaty. _Not again_. She wiped the thick sweat off her brow, rehashing the events in her mind. The same dream —or nightmare — each night. But it was different today. Today, it was more vivid, more clear.

Before she could mull on the thought further, someone knocking on her bedroom door interrupted her.

"Rachel? You're late for school. It's the first day back, remember?"

She rolled her eyes at the ceiling in exasperation. _Oh, right. _**_School._** "Yeah, mom. I'll be out in a sec."

She didn't know what the dreams meant or who those people are, but one thing's for certain. _It's gonna be one hell of a day._

* * *

One long and quiet bus ride later, Rachel arrived at the doors of her school. She was the early bird of her class, and as per usual, sat at her lonely spot at the far right corner at the back of her classroom.

She preferred it this way though, at least she wouldn't have to be bothered by the juvenile jokes and behavior of her classmates. Everyone's always trying to impress or 'one-up' each other by having the _best life_, making it seem as if everything is _perfect_.

But no one's truly real. Everyone has a facade, a mask they put up to shield themselves from the whole world. Some resort to bullying others to feel powerful, like they're better than the rest of the world.

_The best example being Kitten Moth and her cohorts._

Most think Kitten is just a one-dimensional typical school mean girl, but that really isn't the case. It's almost understandable how Kitten tries to establish control and popularity in school with her attitude because of her daddy-attention problems, but that doesn't excuse the fact that she's _a total bitch_.

Everyone has a mask. No one is real and genuine in the school.

Rachel thinks she has **everyone **figured out.

She _knows _it.

But what she doesn't know is if anyone can figure _her_ out.

Frowning, Rachel mused on the possibility. _How it must feel to have someone understand… someone to trust. Even the Kitten-bitch has an unwilling psychoanalyst. _

As the first bell rang signifying the start of the day, students entered the room with their friend groups, sitting in their "unspoken" designated areas. It wasn't long until Rachel heard the telltale click-clacking of Kitten's much too tall pink heels, strutting in with her loyal band of wannabes.

The three girls in bright _bright_ pink sat in the reserved empty space in the middle of the room. Everyone knew the protocol, and no one was brave enough —or stupid enough— to question it. The whole school knew that if you messed with Kitten, you're bound to get scratched.

The drone of mindless chatter fills the classroom as something dark and sudden catches the corner of Rachel's eye. There, beyond the window on a lone dull branch of an otherwise lush and vibrant tree, stood a Raven with full thick feathers as black as the night, and two round beady eyes that faced her, eerily watching with its emptiness.

Rachel was enraptured by it, millions of questions burning in her mind. _A raven in this part of town? _A chill ran up Rachel's spine as the bird continued to stare back, not moving a single inch. Despite the spookiness of it all, Rachel desperately ignored her instincts to turn away and urged to look closer. There was something peculiar about the Raven, even more so with its eyes… they were… _glowing red?_

_BRIIIINGGGGG!_

With the second and final bell, students started settling in as the manipulative Mrs. Mae entered the room. The long survivors of Jump City High School affectionately called her, "Mother Mae-Eye" behind her back since the old woman was a mother figure to many (but not in a good way) and of course, her particularly large doe eyes that stare death into you when you do something wrong.

The old stout lady set her things down on the teacher's table with an abnormally wide smile etched on her face, indicating the start of Rachel's nightmare.

"All right, children! It's been a long summer, but all you sweeties are back and excited to learn. Aren't you all?" Mrs. Mae said in a sickly sweet tone.

It wasn't surprising when a less than enthusiastic response is what she received.

"I **said**. Aren't. You. _All_?" her old crinkled eyes widened, head tilted in a threatening manner. Shouts and frantic, almost panicked, cheers of joy from her students responded her question the second time around.

A single banging clap erupted from her wrinkled hands. "Very good! The best way to start the year is with change. And with that, we've got a new student to join us… a Miss Kory Anders? Kory Anders?"

Unfamiliar with the name, students started to look around, interested by the newbie of Jump City High. The jocks were interested to see if she can be a new plaything, the nerds wondered if she would be one of the sensible ones, and Kitten's group was only eyeing out the competition.

_Well, she doesn't seem to be here. Whoever she is, I hope she doesn't get corrupted, _Rachel thought with little to no interest. _But being late to Mrs. Mae's class? Stupid. _

With perfect timing, a beautiful girl with bright emerald eyes and long curly hair as red and brilliant as a blazing fire opened the door with a creak, _but her hair actually ends with FIRE, and her skin is GOLDEN, and her eyes are _**_ENTIRELY _**_green and —_

Rachel clutched at her head painfully, squeezing out the random images in her brain. Taking a few deep breaths, she closed her eyes tightly, forcing herself to remember what she saw, but everything disappeared as soon as it came.

Before she could think much of it, a delicate voice rang through the terse silence, "Umm… is this room 304? The numbers seem to have been worn out, and I apologize if—"

"And I presume you are Miss Kory Anders?" Mrs. Mae coldly replied back, already having judged this girl.

"Yes! You must be Mrs. Mae, my homeroom teacher! I am delighted to have made your acquaintance —"

"Well, child, you must know that I do not take kindly to tardiness," the aged teacher wagged her pointer-finger from side-to-side. "But since this is your first day, I'll give you a pass. After all, Mrs. Mae loves all of you!"

With a mocking tone and incredibly tight pinch to Kory's cheek, Mrs. Mae shooed the new girl away. "Now, my little tardigrade, find a seat before you cut more of my time."

As Kory made her way to the only seat left, which happened to be right next to hers, Rachel saw the flaming red pinch marks on her right cheek. _Ouch… that's got to hurt._

Kitten's band of followers quietly sniggered at Kory as she passed, determining that she _is _competition. Rachel didn't miss the evil little smirk Kitten aimed at Kory. Already she felt bad for the girl. Getting pinched by Mother Mae-Eye and creating enemies in one day? Not a good start to the year. But what does she know? _Everyone_ hates her.

Oddly enough, Kory didn't notice anything happening around her. As Mother Mae-Eye starts the roll call, Kory pulled out her notebook and sharpened pencil from her bag. She curiously takes a peek at her seatmates as she does so. The guy to her right is asleep, nothing she can do there, but she was pleased to find the girl on her left very much awake.

"Hello! I am—"

"Kory Anders. I know." Rachel cut her short, facing forward.

"Oh… right." Kory nervously laughed and pulled at the hem of her dress, a nervous tick inherited from her mother. "And you are?"

A moment passes before Kory heard a soft "Rachel Roth." The other girl replied abruptly, finally facing Kory and scrutinizing her. She seemed unsure about something but decided to come out with it. "It's none of my business, but can I ask you a question?"

"Is that not already a question?" Kory responded cheekily, receiving an unamused glare from Rachel. "I am honored to satisfy your interest. What is it?"

"Doesn't it hurt?"

"Does what hurt?" Kory tilted her head to the side, indicating her confusion.

"Your cheek." Still receiving a puzzled look, an exasperated Rachel clarified, "You were pinched by Mrs. Mae? It's literally red right now. Maybe you should get some ice from the clinic."

"Oh!" Kory reached up to touch her cheek. "I did not do the noticing of it at all, but I thank you for your concern!"

Turning back to the front of the class, Rachel decided the conversation had gone on long enough. The raven-haired teen had already made her conclusions about the new girl after their short exchange. Kory, at least, wasn't a complete ditz, but she was surprisingly… _nice_ for a pretty face, if not a little naive and childlike. Most pretty girls Rachel had met were either pretty on the outside or the inside, never both. Granted, she didn't know Kory well enough to judge the latter, but her gut told her this was the case.

After a few minutes of Mrs. Mae's droning, Kory turned around on her seat to ask Rachel a question. "Umm… I would like to make an inquiry."

Raising one eyebrow, Rachel glanced at her. "Yeah?"

Kory hurried to finish her thought before she lost her audience. Yes, she _had_ noticed her newfound friend's short attention span. "I do not know if you are the "up" to it, but admittedly, you are the first person to show me kindness in this school, and I would like it very much if you sit with me and my friend during recess."

Rachel stared at her dubiously. "I don't know, Kory. We only talked for less than 3 minutes, _and it was about your cheek_."

"Yes, but that is the "'it!'" Kory beamed at her, grateful for the lack of an outright _no_. "You have shown concern for me, and… as my friend Donna would say, it is good for me to form new bonds of friendship."

Rachel scrunched her brows in thought, reluctant. All her life, she refused the opportunity of_ friends_, and that hasn't changed. She didn't _deserve_ friends_. _Not after what she'd done. Not after causing so much pain. _Then, why does she hesitate now?_

"I—"

Kory urgently grabbed at Rachel's arm, desperate to sway her.

"Please, friend Rachel!"

…

_She doesn't know why, but something compels her to glance at the person next to her. _

_The girl, in particular. had golden skin, red curly locks, and entirely green eyes. She wore revealing purple armor and purple boots to match, with metal coverings on her neck and forearms. The girl was _**_floating _**crossed-legged next to her,_ a peaceful smile adorning her face._

_Maybe she _**_should_**_ give her a shot. After all. it's only fair since she did the same. _

_"After this, would you like to go to the mall?" A low, serene voice suggests._

_The strange girl nods with a satisfied look. As of now, they don't know it, but the effort each of them made would be worthwhile in their budding friendship. _

_Together, with a new sense of solidarity, they meditate:_

_"Azarath, Metri…"_

_..._

"I… fine."

Kory clapped rapidly, mouth split open by her wide smile. "Yes! This is so exciting! My first new friend in Jump City High!"

A tiny smile graced Rachel's pale face. It was time to give herself another shot.

"Yeah… same."

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **So that was the first chapter. Originally, it would have been much longer especially because I wanted to end with a cliffhanger, but I really want to get this up and running as soon as I can. Please review if you're interested to see more, and I'm very open to any feedback you might have. This isn't the last of this story, and I hope you'll enjoy meeting the rest of the gang next chapter. Thank you for reading!


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